A Time for Madness
by MagnaVictoria
Summary: Devastated by the sacrifices that had to be made for their victory, Harry Potter decides that he wants another try at life. However, dark forces are at work and another has come back to the past as well, messing up his plans. Will he succumb to the will of his darker half or continue to work for the light? Do-over fic. May be M in the future.


**_Title: _**A Time for Madness**_  
_****_Summary: _**Devastated by the sacrifices that had to be made for their victory, Harry Potter decides that he wants another try at life. However, dark forces are at work and one other has come back, messing up his plans. Will he succumb to the will of his darker half or continue to work for the light?**_  
Pairing(s): _**Undecided  
**_Genre(s): _**Adventure**_  
Warnings: _**Time paradoxes, manipulative!Dumbledore, Dark!Harry AND Light!Harry, Slash, het, AU, Time Travel, Do-over fic**_  
Rating: _**T  
**_Words:_**1,423

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_A_ **Time** _for_ **Madness  
Zero-0.** _Torn _**Path **_to _**the **_Past_

_**23**__**rd**__** December, 1999 | Hogsmede | 12:00**_

It was approaching Christmas. Fluffy white sheep cluttered the sky, not letting a single slither of blue through. Their fur shed, tiny tuffs of it drifting lazily through the air, riding a gentle draft. Their journey was peaceful at first, yet it always ended by being caught on dark cloth, swept away by the warm chatter or trampled upon after contributing to the white blanket that covered Hogsmede. The celebrative mood washed over the entirety of wizarding Britain and beyond, but nowhere was more cheerful than the little village next to Hogwarts.

In the conversations that drifted around, there was always chatter about the Battle of Hogwarts, the Great Harry Potter and the triumph over Voldemort, despite it all happening almost two years ago. The bloody battle that had occurred was treated as a wondrous event of victory with no sign of acknowledgement to the tragedy it had been. They may have won, but it was at a price.

The one that did not fit in with the festive moods was none other than our young hero, the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry Potter, disillusionment and notice-me-not charms cast, sulked in an empty alleyway.

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, he thought over the war. So many casualties, so many things that could have been changed, if only he had done a little better. Dumbledore, Fred, Tonks, Remus, Sirius and so many others were dead. Irreversible damage had been done to the wizarding world. The decline in population was just as worrying as the continued corruption in the ministry. The public, media and politicians were all annoying the hell out of him. Didn't they understand that he just wanted to be alone to grieve? But, no. They just had to bug him and call on Harry bloody Potter for every single little problem they had. None could understand him, not even his friends…

At first, things seemed to be hopeful. They had won, with losses, yes, but won nonetheless. They had grieved after that and celebrated, on their way to rebuilding the war. They had recovered and gone on though. But for Harry… Harry could never forget. He could never move on. Plagued by nightmares and waking, screaming night after night. He blamed himself for not doing better and he wished he could do it all again. He felt hollow and guilty; there were so many things he wanted to change, to do that he could never accomplish. He wanted to apologize to Snape and talk with the man. He wanted to go home and find Sirius and Remus there, laughing, playing. He wanted to visit Teddy and talk to Tonks about all the mischief the child had gotten up to. He wanted to go up to the headmaster's office and talk with him, the real him, and share lemon drops, looking into his twinkly eyes.

Harry Potter sighed again, a feeling of emptiness overcoming him. He had drifted apart from his friends due to his attitude and immersed himself in finding a way to change things.

A sudden smirk stretched over his face.

Because he had succeeded.

He would go to the past and change things.

Perhaps, this time, things would be different. Maybe he could even befriend Malfoy earlier and make him less of a git. Who knows what might happen.

_**25**__**th**__** December, 1999 | Hogwarts, Room of Requirement | 23:30**_

The preparations were finally done. Standing there, in the ritual circle, Harry Potter allowed himself a smile. It was Christmas and what better Christmas present was there to give the wizarding world than a bright new future. He swore he would not fail.

And as Harry took up a chant, the runes glowed white. The blinding light flooded the Room of Requirement and Harry was gone…

_**25**__**th**__** December, 1986 | Number 4 Private Drive | 23:34**_

Blinking in the darkness rapidly, Harry waited for his eyes to adjust and his head to stop spinning. After a while, his senses came back to him. He could feel a rough, lumpy mattress beneath him and the tell-tale snores coming from above. He sat up slowly, a hand at his temple and reached for the light switch. The light flickered on and curious _Avada Kedavra _eyes looked around the cramped cupboard before staring down to examine himself. A grin spread over Harry's face. He had done it.

_**25**__**th**__** December, 1986 | Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office | 23:55**_

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts was worried. Minutes ago, he had been awoken by the shrill alarms of the silver instruments in his office, meaning that something had happened to Harry Potter. He had stood there panicking for a moment as they whirled and shrieked before everything calmed down and went back to normal. He had sincerely hoped that the boy was alright and wondered what had happened. Now, pacing back and forth in his office, twirling the Elder Wand in his fingers, he still had no clue as to what may have happened.

Suddenly, there was another shriek from one of the silver instruments, making Albus startle. Then, there was a small _pop _and he froze as his wand disappeared. After a moment of shock, Albus really began to panic. What the hell…?

_**26**__**th**__** December, 1986 | Unknown Location | 00:07**_

Feeling the woodland ground underneath him as he struggled into consciousness, he cursed. Something had gone wrong; it had interfered with the magic. Giving an annoyed huff, he closed his eyes, waiting for his world to stop spinning, before sitting up and examining his surroundings. He was in a clearing of some sort, with tall trees and thick bushes obscuring him from the view of the rest of the forest. Moonlight touched the ground fitfully, not managing to stay in front of the clouds. Dusting a leaf from his lap, he stood up and stretched, wincing at how sore he felt and the loud sounds of leaves beneath his shoes.

He was tired, but he couldn't rest yet. Reaching into his pocket, he found, with a grin, his wand and his small bag of galleons that was magically expanded on the inside. A quick and silent _tempus_ showed that it was minutes past midnight. He checked the year and was pleased to find that he had at least succeeded partially. Another flick of his wand had a mirror conjured and a non-verbal _lumos _allowed him to see in the dark.

Bright emeralds stared back at him from the reflection, his long, dark hair still tied back by a ribbon. His robes were still the same, dark green and elegant, but a little dirty. A quick cleaning charm took care of that.

Banishing the mirror, he looked around, relived to see his shrunken trunk lying a few feet away. Quickly, he summoned it, immensely glad that he had been prepared for such a situation, and put it in his other pocket where his _other _wand was. He frowned. He didn't remember taking this wand with him… Oh well. It didn't matter. In fact, it made things a whole lot easier.

His face broke into a grin. Despite the change in plans, he could still work with this, though there was a little Harry Potter out there who knew a little too much for his own good. That reminded him; he still needed a name.

"_Point me…_"

His wand spun in his hand to point to the nearest settlement and he thought while he walked.

Hadrian… He liked the sound of that name. People could call him Harry for short. Yes, he would be Hadrian from now on… What about middle and last names though? Marvolo, perhaps, just for the sake of it. And as for last name… he would need to make his last name one of the families he was lord of and perhaps manipulate the blood test done in Gringotts a little to show only that one house. He would probably need to alter his appearance a little, too. He couldn't pick a house that was already with an heir or lord though, despite being the lord of two abck home, but the claim to lordship still had to send a jolt through the wizarding community. Maybe Peverell? Hadrian Marvolo Peverell. Yes, it may not be the best of names, but it was good enough.

Now though, he had to find a place to stay and recover, find out just _where_ he was, and make plans for world domination to amuse himself. With a dark chuckle, Hadrian swept from the clearing.

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Like it? Don't like it?  
It's just the prologue, but I would love it if you reviewed.

Also, if you do want me to continue this, who should I pair Harry with? And do you want Hadrian to be paired with Voldemort? If not, would you prefer I if get rid of Tom or keep him?


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